The Top 10 Haunted Locations In Lansing

Lansing, Michigan, and the surrounding area is known for its haunted buildings, parks, and campuses. In fact, it’s hard to find a place in Lansing that doesn’t have some ties to the paranormal. 

Lansing’s haunted past makes it the perfect city for a ghost tour. Be sure to book a ghost tour with Heart City Ghosts for your next visit to learn all the ghostly lore!

What Is The Most Haunted Place In Lansing?

There are many top contenders for the most haunted place in Lansing. There’s Oak Park, which was formerly a cemetery, and where some say a few bodies were left behind. 

The state capitol is also home to the spirits of former employees who tragically lost their lives on the job. The creepily named Blood Cemetery is supposedly the site of a murder cover up and where restless spirits linger.

Michigan State University is an epicenter of paranormal phenomena, with multiple haunted locations, including dorms, a botanic garden, and the bell tower. Judge for yourself which Lansing location you think is deserving of the title “most haunted.”

Michigan State Capitol

The sprawling Michigan State Capitol Building, completed in 1878, is haunted by the spirits of former employees who died there. In the 1880s, a young page fell to his death from the grand staircase, and his ghost has remained present for over a century.

While painting the rotunda, a painter fell from his scaffolding and died. Since then, staff have seen the entity of a man in painter’s clothes wandering the rotunda. 

Other spirits include a roofer who also fell to his death and an elevator operator who was fatally electrocuted while on the job. 

The Abigail Senior Apartments

Before it became apartments for senior living, The Abigail opened in 1858 as the Michigan Female College. Founded by Abigail Rogers, over 1,000 women were educated at the school before it became the Michigan School for the Blind in 1880. The school remained open until 1995, then sat vacant for over 20 years.

It’s believed the vacancy resulted in hauntings, including the malevolent presence of Abigail Rogers. Staff and residents also hear the sound of old gym equipment being used in the basement. During its vacancy, squatters would stay only a short time at The Abigail before being scared away by the ghosts.

Blood Cemetery

Blood Cemetery was built in the 1880s for a physician named Dr. Blood and his family. According to local lore, Dr. Blood murdered his wife in their barn and buried her in the family cemetery. Over the years, Blood Cemetery has become a haunted attraction for local teens and paranormal investigators alike.

A group of teens reported hearing growling in the cemetery and seeing a demonic pair of glowing red eyes. As they attempted to flee the cemetery, their car failed to start. 

Two paranormal investigators corroborated hearing growling during their own investigation of the cemetery. They also encountered a glowing orb of white light that left them thoroughly spooked.

Turner-Dodge House

The Turner-Dodge House is a historic mansion in Lansing that was constructed in the 1850s. It remained a private residence until the 1970s when it was purchased by the state and opened for tours. 

Since then, there have been sightings of Marion Turner, one of the mansion’s first residents, and a bearded man who has been spotted by multiple witnesses. The bearded man is typically seen peering through a top-floor window.

He was even photographed by a photographer who noticed his ghostly presence staring at him. In another account, a man and his sons noticed the bearded man watching them as they walked from the house to the parking lot. This encounter was coupled with flashing lights coming from various windows, which terrified the entire family. 

Oak Park

Before becoming a park where children could come and play, Oak Park was the site of a cemetery. Roughly 1,000 bodies were moved from Oak Park to the nearby Mt. Hope Cemetery, but there’s a rumor not all the bodies were moved.

It’s been claimed that the caretakers of the cemetery lost track of some bodies and only moved their tombstones. This story has led to the belief that Oak Park is haunted.

There have been sightings of child apparitions in and around the park’s wading pool. Water can be a source of power for spirits, which could be why these young ghosts gravitate towards it. 

Mary Mayo Hall

Mary Mayo Hall is a women’s dormitory on the Michigan State University campus. Named after Mary Anne Mayo, who expanded women’s education at the turn of the 20th century, the dormitory was built in the 1930s and has been rumored to be haunted for decades. 

There are claims that Mayo herself haunts the building, but she died decades before, and not from murder or suicide as urban legends allege.

Hauntings at Mary Mayo Hall include a grand piano that plays by itself, lights turning on and off, and doors slamming shut when there’s no breeze or other natural cause. It’s also been said that satanic rituals once took place on the fourth floor of the building. 

Beaumont Tower

Built on the site of Michigan State University’s first building, Beaumont Tower is home to an array of spirits. Apparitions of students dressed in clothing from the 1800s have been seen wandering near the building as if looking for the buildings that were torn down or burned down where Beaumont Tower now stands. 

The ghost of a World War II soldier who allegedly searches for his lost love has also been spotted. The bells of Beaumont Tower are also known to go off on their own, and it’s tradition for students to kiss under the shadow of the tower.

Beal Botanical Gardens

William Beal was a professor at Michigan State University in the late 1800s who revolutionized the field of botany. The Beal Botanical Gardens sit on the former site of Beal Laboratory, which burned to the ground in 1890, along with much of Beal’s research.

Over the years, students have heard disembodied screaming while walking through the gardens. Shadow figures and sightings of Beal’s apparition have been reported as well. Investigators using a spirit box on the site heard the word “help” repeatedly, possibly in reference to the devastating fire.

Saint’s Rest

Saint’s Rest was Michigan State University’s first dormitory, which burned to the ground during a fire in 1876. No one died in the fire, but the ghosts of former students have been seen in the area dressed in 1800s attire. The apparition of a workman has also been seen near the site of the former dormitory.

More than a century after the fatal Saint’s Rest fire, historic preservationists uncovered a doll from the former basement of the dorm. The doll was named Mabel and is allegedly possessed by a demonic force. This wicked dolly is often blamed for the fire. 

Hubbard Hall

Hubbard Hall is the tallest building in East Lansing and one of the most haunted. The building acts as a dormitory for first-year students at Michigan State University. 

The reported hauntings at Hubbard Hall all seem to occur on the 12th floor. Students will hear people running down the hall and laughing late at night. Upon further inspection, the hallway is completely deserted. Other mischievous activity includes lights that turn on and off by themselves.

Two male apparitions are regularly seen on the 12th floor of Hubbard Hall. Another spirit has been known to get on the elevator on the 12th floor, then exit on the 9th, at which time students on the elevator will feel an unexplained blast of cold air.

Haunted Lansing

A trip to Lansing is sure to be packed with paranormal experiences. Be sure to visit the top haunted spots by booking a ghost tour with Heart City Ghosts today! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, and keep reading our blog for more real hauntings nationwide.

Sources:

• https://hauntedhouses.com/michigan/lansing-state-capitol-building/
• https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/2019/09/30/inside-look-6-most-haunted-places-lansing-area/2309960001/
• https://www.fox47news.com/neighborhoods/dewitt-st-johns/blood-cemetery-and-its-haunted-history
• https://99wfmk.com/turnerdodgehaunt/
• https://975now.com/some-of-the-dead-allegedly-dont-rest-in-one-lansing-cemetery/
• https://mysteriousmichigan.com/ghostly-happenings-at-mary-mayo-hall
• https://onthebanks.msu.edu/Exhibit/162-567-5/campus-legends-and-myths/
• https://onthebanks.msu.edu/Exhibit/162-567-5/campus-legends-and-myths/
• https://campusarch.msu.edu/hauntedtour/
• https://msu.edu/spartan-spirits/#saints-rest
• https://onthebanks.msu.edu/Exhibit/162-567-5/campus-legends-and-myths/